On Saturday, Kyle Turris, then a proud member of the Ottawa Senators, tweeted out a message for his fans/followers — “download the new NHL Supercard 2K18 with me as the official cover athlete.”

Sure enough, the image on the cover was Turris, in action, looking good in his white No. 7 Senators sweater, an ‘A’ for alternate captain on his chest.

A day later, the tweet, the card and the Turris jersey were all badly out of date. Many would say, sadly out of date. On Sunday evening Turris became a member of the Nashville Predators, the key departing player in a blockbuster trade that would bring to Ottawa Matt Duchene, a centre long coveted by Senators general manager Pierre Dorion.

The three-way deal is said to leave all three teams involved very pleased — the Senators get the younger (by two years), flashier Duchene, the rebuilding Colorado Avalanche scoop prospects and draft picks while Nashville gets Turris, a nifty centre the Preds hope works out as well as the last Senators centre to leave for Music City — the beloved Mike Fisher.

The hockey stuff will work itself out. The mainstays involved in this trade will be well looked after — Turris already has a new six-year, $6-million U.S. per season contract in his hip pocket, after talks soured on a longer deal here. Duchene will settle in via shock therapy. His first two games as a Senator are in Sweden this week against his former Avs teammates.

For the broader Ottawa community, the transition will take longer.

The vacuum left by Turris, as it was with others before him, will sting for a while. Turris joins a pantheon of Senators players who left an indelible mark here far beyond big goals scored and playoff games won. Think of Daniel Alfredsson, who left the Senators not once, but twice. Chris Phillips retired as a Senator and makes his home here, but his retirement reminded us of a time when Alfie, Wade Redden, Phillips and Chris Neil owned the hearts of this town in a way no Senators team has managed since.

There was a time, not long ago, when it seemed Turris, 28, would play out the rest of his career here. How quickly that tide turned.

They’re from the same mould, this group of ex-Sens. Their contributions to the causes of mental health, Candlelighters, Roger’s House, CHEO and the Capital City Condors made them loved as people, not just players.

Who didn’t adore the notion that Turris, after scoring the overtime winner in a playoff game against the New York Rangers last May, rushed from the rink to the awards banquet of the Condors, the special-needs hockey team that looked up to him as its honorary captain?

It’s somewhat expected for players to lend a name to a cause, to write a cheque, to show up now and again to sign autographs and pose with children. Nothing more. Heading to the Condors banquet after an OT thriller, and knowing every child by name, is above and beyond the call. Unselfish acts in the community made players like Turris, and Fisher, years earlier, true heroes.

It wasn’t just Turris, of course. His wife, Julie, mother of three children under four, was equally committed to the Condors.

When Turris was traded, one of his first calls was to Jim Perkins, co-founder and president of the Condors. Speaking on multiple radio shows Monday afternoon, Perkins was talking about how it went down, how Condors parents couldn’t bear to tell their kids that their pal Turris had been traded. Not so close to bedtime.

Turris all but apologized for having to leave the Condors so abruptly. Julie was too choked up to speak.

Hopefully, another member of the hockey club will pick up where Turris left off. Perkins says there is no hurry, since no one can fill that gap left by Turris. Not overnight.

Matt ‘Big Country’ Carkner of Winchester was the first Senators player to ‘captain’ the Condors. When he left Ottawa in 2012 to sign with the New York Islanders, Carkner hand-picked Turris, his road roommate, to carry on the important work with the Condors. Turris took the responsibility to heart.

Now he’s gone, leaving behind “Turris bears” that some members of the Condors take to bed for pleasant dreams. They hold them ever tighter.

One would think by now the Nation’s Capital would have this transient hero business down pat. Don’t get attached to individual players. Use caution buying expensive game jerseys, tomorrow’s obsolete fashion.

We don’t learn. We fall for these humble guys who patrol our neighbourhoods with a golden retriever’s leash in one hand, a baby stroller in the other.

He’s No. 8 in bold Nashville gold, now. But the Turris legacy will always include six years wearing No. 7 with class and honour.

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